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NevOnNevOn is the archive weblog of Neville Hobson, a British business communicator based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, a record of commentary and conversations from December 2002 until 22 February 2006. This site is no longer updated - please visit www.nevillehobson.com.

05 April 2005

It's all happening in France

Last month, there was news that VNU France launched a consumer blog portal, following its launch of blogs for its journalists across Europe. Tech publisher 01Net also launched a blog portal.

So it's no surprise to hear news from Loic Le Meur of yet more blog services launched by organizations in France - Cadres OnLine, one of the main human resources portals in France, has just launched jobs blogs; and youth radio station Europe 2 relaunched its blog platform.

France isn't actually the country that would naturally spring to mind when you think about technology innovation and early adoption. The UK, Sweden and perhaps Germany would more readily be the countries I'd think of. Yet France seems to be much more at the leading edge in embracing new media channels like blogs. And that reflects the refreshing can-do attitude of many business people there, one that I've definitely encountered in my own experience in recent months.

For instance, look at how many senior executives in France are members of the CEO Bloggers Club - over 40. Then look at the CEO Blogs List on the New PR Wiki that includes 35 senior business executives in France who are bloggers - the single largest country group after the US.

It looks like the heart of the European business blogosphere is firmly in France. Another non-surprise, then, when you look at what's also happening in Paris on 25 April - the one-day Les Blogs conference with 223 confirmed participants (so far), of which about half are from France.

I actually discovered the two sites you mention a week or so ago. I see you'll also be at Les Blogs on the 25th, so I hope we get a chance to chat as I'd love to know more about those two sites and how your concepts work.